London Creative Network

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London Creative Network

The London Creative Network (LCN) Programme at Cockpit Arts is a professional development programme designed to help craft makers to enhance their ability to advance their business – whether through new products and services, new ways of doing things, or both – regardless of whether or not they have a studio at Cockpit Arts.

Are you looking for professional support to grow your craft business? Our workshop programme is a bespoke offer of information-led and practical workshops delivered by the Business Incubation Team at Cockpit Arts. We cater for all types of craft practices; from batch producers to artist-makers.

We will work closely with you to build the core skills you need to develop a more sustainable practice and share with you our unique craft sector knowledge, whatever your stage in business. Whether you are still learning the skills you need to better manage your creative practice or need to revisit key areas for development and brush up on your knowledge, this programme will help you hone your plan so that you can grow.

We’ve taken the best of what we know works for our makers at Cockpit Arts to create this bespoke programme of eight workshops. Each workshop building on the last, the full series will give you the confidence and skills needed to take action and implement the changes needed to develop your business and practice.

Following the programme, you will be better equipped to:

– Develop your strategic vision and identify goals and milestones, from the short to long term
– Plan the business and practice that YOU want, by articulating your business values clearly
– Brush up your planning and prioritising skills and processes
– Prepare to introduce new product ranges or services, or work in a new way
– Understand how to target your audience and market, and effectively communicate to them
– Understand your numbers and what you need to do to be financially sustainable
– Improve your businesses capacity for growth

The Details

The LCN programme at Cockpit Arts is due to run until March 2020. Applications are currently closed, if you have any questions, please email Emma Sims, emma@cockpitarts.com

You will gain most from the programme if you can attend all 8 workshops and you must commit to completing at least 12 hours on the programme (approximately 4 workshops). You will also be supported by our Business Incubation coaches on a one to one basis through two meetings. These will help you make the most of your time on the programme and to focus how to apply your learnings to your business or practice.

All our workshops are in a friendly, open atmosphere that encourages discussion and informal networking. In addition to these we also run networking events, talks and seminars. Once you are enrolled on the London Creative Network these are open for you to attend and offer another great opportunity to meet those taking part in the programme, as well as industry experts.

Eligibility criteria

In order to qualify for the London Creative Network programme you must:

– Be based in London (any one of the 32 London boroughs or city of London)
– Have been registered with HMRC for at least 12 months

Selection Criteria

To apply for LCN at Cockpit Arts you must:

– Demonstrate excellence and quality in your finished product: including craft skill and originality/uniqueness and in your use of materials
– Be able to demonstrate evidence of testing the market for your work and that you have an existing customer base
– Be willing to commit to 12 hours of support (including workshops and one-to-one meetings)
– Be committed to growth in your chosen market and to creative product, service and process development
– Be able to outline the vision for your business or practice and how you hope this will develop in market and creative/product terms, underpinned by your business management and marketing
– Be able to articulate where you feel your strengths and weaknesses are in achieving your goals, including where your core business systems need to be taken to the next level

The LCN Partners

LCN is delivered by four partner organisations across London (SPACE, Cockpit Arts, Four Corners and Photofusion) and will run from autumn 2016 to autumn 2018. Each LCN partner is running a different version of the LCN programme, tailored to their own industry and each has varying delivery time frames.

ERDF

The London Creative Network project is part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme, 2014 to 2020. The Department for Communities and Local Government is the managing authority for the European Regional Development Fund Programme, which is one of the funds established by the European Commission to help local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects which will support local businesses and create jobs. London Creative Network follows the very successful New Creative Markets (NCM) programme, which supported almost 600 London-based freelancers and small creative companies from 2012 to 2015. Learn more about NCM here.

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